SPIE is supporting the city of Courbevoie in the deployment of its optical fibre and WiFi network

Paris, February 26, 2019 – SPIE CityNetworks and SPIE ICS, two French subsidiaries of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, have pooled their expertise to assist the city of Courbevoie with the connection of 130 public sites (administrative bodies, schools, etc.) to high-speed broadband.

The city of Courbevoie launched a call for tenders with a view to rolling out its own optical fibre network connecting 130 public sites to high-speed broadband and a WiFi connection in 28 public buildings. These new networks (high-speed broadband and WiFi) aim to reduce the city’s operating costs, for a more efficient administration, via an environment which is 100% secured.

The two-year contract was awarded in January 2018 to a group comprising of SPIE CityNetworks and SPIE ICS, two subsidiaries of SPIE France having expertise in digital networks and services, and the company Prunevieille. The complementary skills of the three companies and their close collaboration has ensured that the best solutions can be found to the challenges facing the city of Courbevoie: management of its own high-speed broadband and WiFi network taking into consideration the constraints of a changing urban environment.

Roll-out of the optical fibre network and distribution of WiFi in Courbevoie have therefore been under way since early 2018 and are being carried out in accordance with the following deadlines:

• May 2018 to May 2019: civil engineering operations including the opening of traffic routes over seven kilometres. These trenches will allow the fibre to be installed and ducting fitted.
• Cables will be laid and connected over a distance of 25 kilometres from November 2018.
• In 2019, WiFi will be distributed in 28 public buildings belonging to the city hall. On average three to four WiFi terminals per building will be installed.

The operations are due to be completed in December 2019 and are currently being worked on by around a dozen people.

Anticipating the constraints of the urban environment

SPIE has the relevant experience to ensure that safe working conditions are in place, both for its staff at work and for any persons in the vicinity of the areas of operation. This safety requirement assumes an alignment with the city's general schedule, but Didier Jacquet, business manager with SPIE CityNetworks, states that: “The itineraries and deadlines for the work are regularly re-assessed on the basis of their impact and as and when we obtain the administrative authorisations, for example for routing via the sewers or on certain traffic routes”.

Improved network distribution between the city’s departments for new types of use

For over two years, in parallel with deployment of the optical fibre network, SPIE ICS, SPIE CityNetworks and Prunevieille have also been responsible for urban video protection in Courbevoie: infrastructure work, fitting and connecting cameras, configuration and system maintenance. The city currently has nine internal cameras and 81 external cameras, so will soon have around 100 in all. This contract involving purchase orders entered its fourth phase two and a half years ago and runs until 2020.

In the medium term, the new optical fibre network is also intended to be used for video protection, which currently relies on a separate network.

“We were awarded the roll-out of the optical fibre network and urban video protection on the basis of our complementary skills: the management of large-scale projects and expertise in public amenities of SPIE CityNetworks and the IP and WiFi skills of SPIE ICS,” explains Quentin Bechelli, Director of Public and Industrial Business Ile-de-France at SPIE ICS. “In addition, our understanding of Courbevoie enabled us to build a relationship of trust.”

These combined skills should enable us to help the city of Courbevoie to move towards new types of use and to achieve “smart and safe city” status. The new network rolled out connecting all public buildings will offer the city hall the option of developing new technical services with full autonomy (intelligent public lighting, traffic and parking management, etc.), and new educational initiatives in schools.